Tag Archives: Lowestoft
Lowestoft fisherman, 18, hopes to attract youngsters to industry
Alex Wightman said he believed there was still a future in fishing, despite government figures showing a decline in registered vessels. His family, from Lowestoft in Suffolk, have spent almost £300,000 on Alex’s boat; the Emma Claire. Father Steve Wightman said he also hoped more young people would get involved. Alex said: “We’re a dying breed but there’s still a future in it if you’re willing to work hard.” At nearly 10m (32.8 ft), the Emma Claire is thought to be the first new fishing boat in Lowestoft’s in-shore fleet for 20 years. photos, more, >>click to read<< 09:10
Fisherman John ‘Jack’ Hale, of Lowestoft,102, has passed away
Born John Federick, the respected fisherman only ever wanted to sail and he became the proud owner of a boat aged just 10. An independent soul, he would go on to run a successful business in Lowestoft which would see him work alongside both his son and grandsons. He was also proud to have broken an inshore fishing record in October 1968 with a herring catch in his boat the Seafarer. “He also fished with his son, Mike, who fished with him from about the age of 12, and they went on to own boats together. “It became a real family business when two of his grandsons began their working lives fishing with them.” Photos, >click to read< 10:32
Remembering the Milford Knight crew
This week in TRM “Old Trawler Corner” is the Milford Knight M127 (see photo) built in Selby in 1950, a steel-sided, diesel, crabber class trawler, that sailed out of Milford from 1950 to 1955, when it moved to Lowestoft and became the Trinidad. We’ve also got a snap of one of her crews (see photo) which Ethel Clark described as follows: “Genial Skipper Thompson was affectionately known as “Womps” in the Milford industry. A member of a well-known Lowestoft born fishing family, with five brothers, all Skippers.”It was in the Second World War that Skipper Thompson won the MBE, after his trawler the Slebech saved Skipper Billy Burgoyne and his crew when his ship, the Fort Rona, was bombed and sunk in the Irish Sea. Photos, >click to read< 17:39
World War II American fighter cockpit found by Lowestoft fishermen
Lowestoft trawlerman Alex Wightman was collecting his nets on September 9, when, to his amazement, he realised the big catch he hauled overboard was the remains of a P-47 Thunderbolt cockpit, which was stuck in his net. The 16-year-old said: “Me and my skipper Jeffery Melton were out when the net tightened. It was weird because we felt something snagging the net. When Mr Wightman and his skipper got the parts on the boat they couldn’t believe the smell of petrol of the parts. Photos, >click to read< 12:48
Rare photos capture Lowestoft trawlermen out at sea in the 1960s
A former photojournalist in the 1960s has shared some rare photos of his time out at sea capturing the lives of trawlermen in Lowestoft. He said: “Lowestoft was alive and teeming with life at that point in time. “I spent three weeks on this tiny little vessel with all the crew. “It was an eight man crew and all of them were such hard workers. “24 hour days, just constantly finding fish, bringing them on board, cutting them up and gutting them and then repeating this process. 11 photo’s, >click to read< 21:33
Fishermen across the East say their industry’s on a knife edge due to Coronavirus crisis
At Leigh on Sea in Essex, fisherman Paul Gibson says he’s experienced several challenges over the years, none of which amount to this scale. “The fishing industry is in absolute turmoil, ports have closed because of lack of demand, getting fish to supermarkets or to the continent where in the South East most of our fish goes, the markets have stopped.” Covid-19 follows years of decline in the industry here in the East, but now it could be fatal. Video, photo, >click to read< 16:27
Will Brexit bring boost to King’s Lynn, Yarmouth and Lowestoft – or will fishing industry be sold down the river?
While the sun shone down on the shrimp boats, there were big clouds on the horizon for King’s Lynn’s fishing fleet and what few vessels still manage to steer their way through the murky waters of EU fisheries policy. As fishermen met politicians to discuss lobbying for a better deal post Brexit, some Lynn boats were fuelling up to sail down to the English Channel to fish, because they have no quota to catch from their home port. Others have already steamed through an estuary full of shellfish on their way to fish for scallops off Yorkshire, because they have no quota in The Wash. The same issues affect every fishing port around our coast, from Wells Quay and Sheringham, to Yarmouth and Lowestoft. continue reading the story here 10:31
